Draco Malfoy and the Long Road to Redemption
by Khalkedonia
Summary: Harry does not come back from death war carries on with new players on the table Hermione chooses duty over her friends Draco obtains the elder wand Is Gınny the last Horcrux ? Draco


English isn't my native language so I expect there will be some errors in my early chapters.I genuinely hope by your reviews and critics I will improve myself both in English and my writing skills.  
My story came from a simple all Harry Potter fans I was delighted when Harry had come back from death after his little speech with ,after I grew up and read George R.R. Martin I thought it was rather disappointing.  
It seemed to me,that comeback was a trick which undermined Harry's sacrifice only to appeal to course I cannot claim I know better than J.K this story will answer questions in my mind as well.A Harry Potter fanfic without Harry Potter himself in which other characters will emerge from the background to play their parts.  
It will be a bit darker than original books,I suspect yet I hope I can make you feel you live in a truly magical world by this fiction.

Now,onward to the chapter 1 !

CHAPTER 1 "A man worth dying for"

Time had stopped for Ron Weasley and countless others,young wizards and witches who were standing against the sea of Death Eaters..  
Most of them was turning pale by the sudden knees had begun to shake as well as their hands violently.

However,their eyes were completely focused at a certain boy's motionless boy had green eyes and was not tall neither was incredibly skinny,that could be deduced even from such state that his long hair was a mess would be an ,his muscles were not twitching and his eyes were Ron rushed forward among the crowd to see his best friend at first he thought Harry was seemed to Ron,he was peaceful after a long without anyone uttering a word,a Death Eater,who was masked so Ron was unable to tell who it was exaclty,roughly grabbed Harry Potter by his arm and after he saw the confirmation in the You-Know-Who's red eyes,  
which was more like a snake's slanting eyes than a human's round shaped eyes anyway ,yanked the hair from Harry's forehead and while You-Know-Who was leering,showed the entire audience the lightning shaped mark.

Then the darkest figure in the midst of his army,Lord Voldemort,took a step forward towards the frightened defenders of seemed so happy and amused,his snaky,non-human figure was overshadowed this voice was augmented by his magic and it delved deep into Ron Weasley's head when he started to felt the words in every fiber of his doubt he was using magic not only to strengthen his voice but its effects as well in human brain.

"You placed your hopes on a mere boy.A naive,coward,suicidal you were putting your lives on the line,he looked for a way to I haven't found him,he would have left you to fight and die in his name."

Voldemort took a moment for his words to set must have seen the doubt in his enemies' eyes and also the fear,so he continued boldly after a few wind,the noises from the Forbidden Forest,giants' grunts and stomps, everything had stopped for him there was a complete silence on the grounds of Hogwarts except for Him.

"It is futile Death Eaters alone outnumber have lost half of your numbers,half of your friends,half of your family,half of your is Potter,the boy who was supposed to save you is dead and his cause is lost as well."He took a great taste in saying 'dead' Ron noted."This battle is already already know it is yet you cannot dare to speak the you show further resistance," he paused for a moment and eyed all of them with malice so deep it made Ron shiver,"none of you will survive this ,none of you will die pleasantly or easily like him ,"he pointed towards Harry."you will suffer and suffer and you will beg to you will suffer some more just for my pleasure if nothing is the fate of all those who dares to oppose me."

"Or,you can forsake this dead boy's foolish quest and return I said earlier I don't want to spill magical blood which is Potter is you want me to destroy Hogwarts,too?Do you want me to track down all your kin,all your friends and torture them before your eyes?Or do you want to live,live in a perfect magical world where everyone knows their place?Where good service to me,to your Lord will be rewarded extravagantly?" Voldemort again examined the defenders' faces and encouraged by their exhaustion,by their mourning,he maliciously continued;

"A terrible fate awaits all except those who return to their homes at the moment."

Ron looked saw people crying,he saw young witches shaking and sobbing,he saw some of them even on their knees,their eyes looking desperate,he saw Hermione;the girl he dreamed to spend the rest of his life with,gritting her teeth and looking to Voldemort with fierce determination but her hands were shaking too.  
Then Ron wanted nothing more than just to rush to her side,console her,hug her and weep with her for days,for weeks,for wanted to weep for Harry,for Fred,for himself and for all his friends.

But he had realized the was so simple and it was indeed and desperate..

There was only one remaining question the secrets,horcruxes,journeys and plots were basic question was : who will survive?

"If we back down now,all of our friends,all of our family will have died in will all be slaves in service to them.I refuse to betray Harry's memory like that." Ron Weasley felt all eyes turning to felt Lord Voldemort's eyes turning to feared so much it was just amazing how he started to walk without collapsing to the ground.

His eyes again turned to unmoving lump that used to be Harry Boy-Who-Lived,his best friend and a wanted to be like him from time to time and he remembered the times he was jealous of was when he looked into his eyes now,there was no was not saving his own skin,or he was foolish enough to think they would be left alone if he was was something else,Ron didn't know what it was but he felt it deep inside his there was no doubt he was a was the only hero in this faced death without any hesitation and now people,people who never really appreciated but humiliated him,including Ron himself, was felt so ashamed and so angry.

He pulled his wand and continued his walk to one stopped him,surprisingly not even didn't know why and he didn't care passed Hagrid and touched his great arm with his was no sound from the crowd behind was just a little shriek from a witch which echoed in his mind over and over knew it was he did not turn back to dared could he walked up to Harry's body and with permission from a Death Eater who was probably the one opened Harry's mark for all to see,he crouched beside rolled the body over and saw his green eyes and his pale sweaty hands which were holding the Invisibility Cloak, his broken glasses and his phoenix wand,which was hidden from eyes beneath his left hand gripped Harry's wand while his right hand gripped his knew phoenix wand was unrepairably broken but he did it anyway.

There was no doubt,also,that Harry Potter was heart fell to a bottomless void at the grim realization.

He got up and he directly faced -Know-Who,Lord Voldemort,Tom Riddle, whatever fuck that was his name,he was sure he was facing a monster; not a man.A monster who killed and killed to become immortal.A monster he had no chance to survive against.

Voldemort's eyes glimmered with a hint of amusement as he watched Ron Weasley wand remained deep inside his Elder tried not to think about it.

His slanting eyes weighed him and he let a derisive laugh."Ron Weasley,one of Potter's miserable companions.I take it your Mudblood had the sense to hide should do the same while -"

Ron did not wait for him to finish did not turn to others,even Hermione or Mcgonagall for support against the most powerful wizard in the world,who possesed the most powerful wand in the world.  
Instead he shouted but he did not hear what he managed to hear his own words after a familiar-deadly familiar in fact- green lightning emerged from his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!"

And much to his surprise,the green light hit his 's laugh was cut short and he felt the wands suddenly became aware he was surrounded by dozens of Death Eaters.  
Yet, he did not he managed to kill him,he didn't care about anything except even though Voldemort was hit he regained his balance after a short wards -that was the only explanation but Ron didn't know how to protect from the Death Curse-  
had protected Ron has never learnt how to do the Killing Curse until now.

When Ron looked at Tom's eyes he saw something was unnerving but somehow comforting too to see it in his eyes.

It was doubt.

Then Death Eaters showered Ron Weasley with curses and though Ron's instincts told him to run away he couldn't do just remained in that spot,unable to move a was would be proud of him.

Yet when Ron opened his eyes he discovered there was a huge shield,like an enormous and ever-standing Protego was standing in front of curses were turned back he saw Mcgonagall's face smiling to him.  
It was a smile belonging to a woman who was to die,prepared to fight,prepared to sacrifice.

Ron,regaining his senses, started to run towards Hogwarts' only hope now was to stand with them.

He had abandoned hope when he had walked to had regained it after he had seen the doubt in his enemy's and Tom Riddle,both knew at that moment he could be killed in an instant by that spell.

But Voldemort didn't abandon the a dark cloud he came after him,briefly taking form to send a curse to did his best to dodge was just pure instinct,he instincts which were deep inside every human being.  
Also he kind of felt that it was like a reversed of cathching the Quaffle,he continously tried to avoid it.

He heard Mcgonagall's shout as he run to them with his long legs."Forward!" she cried and she started to ,Ron thought it was probably the first time he saw the old woman was a bloody good time.  
Ron suddenly disappeared in the wave of attackers as a tiny droplet rushing forward to be immersed in the and women run past him to meet their was no shout,no war was about to be left behind as a young wizard in the last wave of the ocean of attackers raised him up.

At that moment someone on the edge of the forest screamed in Ron looked up through the lines of Death Eaters,he saw Centaurs ,dozens of them, emerging from the forest raining death upon Voldemort's followers and shouting their chilling war have finally picked their side.

Ron took a second to cool down before doing was too much happening too quickly.

"Is this reality?" He asked the wizard who was now urging him to go again to the forward was ,Ron Weasley,Molly Weasley's youngest son ,who barely managed to keep up with his teenager friends all these years survived a duel with You-Know-Who.

Neville smiled as Ron finally managed to walk he kept a slow pace for him to catch his breath.

"I don't know it is real or I know is that bastard killed Harry." he said.

Ron nodded.

"This couldn't be real after all."And they laughed rather hysterically and nervously at first,they were clearly trying to extinguish their anxiety with more Ron Weasley laughed,more courage roared within his soul.  
For the first time in his life,Ron felt what it was to be a Gryffindor.

They charged forward to take down a Death Eater together.

"This was only the beginning of it." Ron thought.

Ron was looking everywhere for Hermione and his parents,as well as his brothers and 's death was a devastating blow for all of them yet after his rather reckless action,they must all be on the battlefield.

He wondered how Ginny took Harry's must have destroyed would be extremely difficult for her to keep up in such a battle after the shock.

After the first wave under Mcgonagall's command met with the first line of death eaters,everything was turned to grounds of Hogwarts perhaps was overcrowded by all able-bodied wizard and witch in England :Masked Death Eaters,Dementors,Hogwarts students and teachers,Ministery officials,Quidditch players,vampires and werevolves,house elves and centaurs and both sides were using Unforgivable Spells now.  
In the midst of all there was one who crushed anyone standing in his Voldemort,followed by a small but rather fierce company of Death Eaters was carving a way to Hogwarts by giant snake,Nagini was also present and as far as Ron could tell it had already paralized or killed one or two dozen D.A gulped and tried to look away from the carnage.  
He knew he and Neville must do something to stop them yet they both needed a seemed to them there was no stopping Voldemort,he was moving with an unmatched speed and agility,probably enhanced by magic and was not even sparing a moment's notice for someone who died trying to stop him.

Much to his frustration,Ron suddenly saw two witches he was looking for at the same spot,only one line defense away from Voldemort's merciless assault,Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley were standing in a unyielding manner,upright and was shocked to see that two girls had managed to seize Harry's were standing in front of him like guardian angels and Ron Weasley in all his terror and exhaustion acknowledged that both his sister and Hermione never looked this red haired girl had tears in her eyes and her neck was burned by an unknown must have also lost half her hair in that was constanly biting her lip as she was watching had a grim expression on her face like of which Ron has never seen was also a spark behind her ,on the other hand,stood cold-blooded and was not even making one single motion,  
her eyes fixated on her had covered Harry's body with her coat but she was not trembling from the abnormally long teeth was open,her breath a visible puff at the moon light.

Ron and Neville nodded after a started to run to aid the girls,whereas Neville gathered some Hufflepuff students to confront some point Neville told Ron Harry's last orders,Nagini's nodded and confirmed it and they had unconsciously decided it was Neville's job to do.  
So the boys parted without even uttering a word.

When Voldemort started to duel with an Auror the girls pointed their wands to hexes were easily deflected by a large crimson shield made by the Elder Wand and they had to cover to dodge their own hexes.  
After a succesive series of hexes the Auror took two or three steps back and got the Auror upright,recognizing it was Tonks.

Last thing Ron could see was three witches sending hex after hex to Voldemort's Voldemort's that his view was blocked by a Death Eater.  
Yet Death Eater's face was open and Ron astonishingly contemplated he was about to duel with Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius said nothing but examined him with a careful look in his would be wary,of course but Ron knew that he was still not competent to match with Lucius Malfoy.  
He wheeled around him meanwhile trying to catch glimpses of fight between Voldemort and the witches.

The first move came from quickly took a step forward and with a quick wave of his wand unleashed a set of razor blades towards moved to dodge but before long understood blades were made to follow wherever he went,so he started to run towards Malfoy himself.  
Malfoy unleashed another spell,again wordless, and a rope flew out of his wand,a green,flashy rope which moved for Ron's neck.

Ron ducked and rolled to side,avoiding both the blades and the green flashy ,the spells were still intact and Malfoy was still free to conjure more threats to needed to do something and fast. He tried to think of a way to deflect Malfoy's own shield spells would not suffice,however.

"I cannot hope to prevail in sheer magic."

"Accio!" Ron shouted.A dead giant's enormous body rose up from the ground and at Ron's bidding, his flesh and bones shielded him from Lucius' vicious blades stuck into giant's abdomen and flashy rope strangled the already dead giant.  
Navigating and flying such a great mass was harder than Ron right arm had started to throbb and he was aware he couldn't last giant's corpse,Ron heard Lucius' laugh.

"Stupid you have both blinded and overexerted me,why do you persist in fighting?Dark Lord was intrigued by your spirit and you loyalty to a dead can rise rapidly if you pledge yourself to him now."

"NEVER!" Ron refused to even hear that notion.

"Then do you wish to die?You must surely see there is no hope of victory now."

After Lucius' words he periliously ignored the danger he was in and looked around to the battlefield.A large horde of werevolves had attacked to Centaur body from the side and apparently they had resorted to the hit and run tactics.A company of testhrals and an outraged Buckbeak had come to join the battle to stall some of the giants.  
Yet in the heart of the battle,Voldemort and his company nearly shattered the center of Hogwarts Defenders' and their flanks were about to be dissolved as all Hogwarts students because of their inexperience lay dead on the Death Eaters were marching onward to finish the remainder while stepping over their dead bodies.

Moreover apparently an endless column of Dementors were moving to stop the Defenders' way to escape and it was a brilliant idea to put panic to put panic in friends' hearts Ron knew he had to do something to stop were all nearly outflanked and when the Dementors moved to close off their escape route a deadly trap would be set.  
Ron thought of Harry and when he defeated one hundred Dementors with one was only thirteen then.

But Ron had to beat Malfoy was no hope for him,for his friends and family otherwise.

"It only means I have to deal with you quickly,Malfoy!" Ron shouted as he tossed the huge dead corpse to Lucius with a flick of his caught it in the mid air and tossed it back to Ron but Ron was already on the move by then.  
He rushed to Malfoy as quickly as he can and shouted "Expelliarmus!".

Disarming charm was easily deflected by Lucius' shield continued to attack Ron with a combination of fire and did not bother for a Protego,instead he used an propelling charm to dodge to buy time.  
Before he hit the ground,Ron unleashed an " mpedimenta" but Lucius was able to block it as hit the ground and managed to keep on his feet took two steps back from Ron Weasley and grinned.

This was getting unexpectedly exciting, Lucius a mere boy to give him so much trouble..Yet Lucius understood the threat was greater from Ron Weasley than the likes of Kingsley were unpredictable and surprisingly, resourceful.

Ron assaulted Malfoy using or combining several hexes but Lucius deflected them all with relative 's Weasley pup however did not stop his attacked and time Lucius realized he was getting a little later to defend himself from Weasley.  
Malfoy waited and deflected a Petrificus Totalus and Sectum Sempra -where the hell did that boy learn it from?- before his decisive lowered his shield and conjured waves from his sound waves Lucius knew had the power to break glasses and to Lucius' advantage, human bones when augmented by a hostile shield charm.

And in this duel Weasley nearly always used Protego to defend himself.

But Weasley was too caught up in sending hexes in his was barely able to protect himself from those this time and fortunately for Weasley he didn't have time at all. nstead he took the waves head on.

Ron collapsed when hit by those waves feeling a cold vibration throughout his fell on his knees and tried to overcome the pain.

Lucius and Ron started dueling again in a few seconds with no winner in was getting more furious as Dementors were approaching the Dumbledore's Army and their allies from center had collapsed but a defensable formation was formed by Mcgonagall and Flitwick, who were now dueling Lord Voldemort with Ginny's and Hermione's aid at the center of the new formation.  
Ron had no chance to glimpse for Neville and whether he succeeded or failed in his task.

As the duel drew on,Ron felt Lucius was getting the was only a matter of time before the older wizard cornered and disarmed him.

Ron tried to think of another trick anything that might be of use against Lucius.

Anything that might confuse him..

When the pair stopped a moment to catch their breaths and Ron looked straight into Lucius face and said 'Open' in Parselmouth.

Lucius was struck by this revelation.A Weasley,the member of the most notorious Blood-traitor family spoke Parselmouth!

"You speak Parselmo-"

Again,Ron did not wait for Malfoy to finish like he did not wait Voldemort to finish his attacked,feeling wicked and in war there was no room for distraction.

There was only room for anger and pain.

"Crucio!"

As he was hit by Ron's curse Lucius fell on his knees and looked straight into Ron's he was suffering from Ron's curse,his body curling and twisting in awkward angles Lucius did not shout how much he hated him,how he will die in his hands. nstead he just growled to rage was so apparent Weasley felt it in his bones.

"How could scum like you do this to me?" Malfoy yelled as between his screams.

Then Ron clearly became aware of it .

If he hoped to stop the Dementors there could be no grabbed his wand again,which was about fall from his grasp by the force of torturing spell and said:

"Avada Kedavra!"

Lucius Malfoy's body fell to the ground with so little noise Ron couldn't comprehend magnitude of his actions for a just stood there,not moving,not thinking and not listening.  
He was speechless and truly he was killed by Lucius that wouldn't be much of a surprise.

But the truth,the shocking fact that Ron himself killed a man was overwhelming.

Ron knew he should have stopped there and ask himself what the hell was he he did not do had no time for second thoughts now.

He stepped over Lucius' body and only said "I am sorry.".Then he started to run again not to stop dementors but to help Neville Longbottom.

He had finally seen was laying unsconcious on the his side there was a giant snake,also on the belly was cut open by something and its entrails were also on the scene should have made Ron puke and if he puked whilst he ran,he was completely unaware of it.

Nagini's teeth was covered in 's body was also covered in blood.

There was a pool of blood beside both of their were laying unsconcious on the ground.

Neville was immersed in hand were bloody,his clothes were cut open and his belly was covered in blood.

Neville had Gryffindor's Sword at his left sword was also covered in blood.

"Is he dead?"

Not knowing why,Ron's eyes were last felt he was collapsing to grass and he fell into the pool of was also soaked in it and when he closed his eyes he saw Lucius Malfoy standing above a pile of corpses that were Ron's friends.

"I am sorry." he muttered.

Lucius' face turned to Harry's.

"You killed them all, destroyed you had known when to give up,all of them would be alive you attacked You-Know-Who with a Killing Curse."  
"I did that for you."  
"I died for you, you commenced this frenzied attack for your own sense of vengeance,not for me."  
"Shut the fuck up!"

Series of images came rushing to Ron's was drowning in a sea of crying tears of blood as Ron cast the killing curse on abandoning him while Ron running after feet slips and he falls...  
He falls into bottomless pit that was Voldemort's red eyes.

"It is futile,I know it we have come such a long destroyed the cannot be."

Ron felt his eyes saw Dementors... hundreds of them,maybe thousands of them feeding on corpses,feeding on living beings feeding on himself,his hopes,his dreams...He felt Hermione,her image draining forever from his tried to think of her,remember her smile but couldn't image her face in his he knew was the was no Harry or Hermione nor there was any family in his depths.  
At first he thought there was a dream of a family,a family that never accepted or appreciated ,Ron was the one who remained in the then he dismissed was not even a was so cold and he observed the world like he was seeing it the first was full of sorrow and despair,impossible to find a home within saw Parvati Patil being grabbed from behind by a Death Eater and forcefully offered to a 's mouth emerged from depths and covered Parvati's.

Ron got had understood he was in an ocean of tried to think of a good memory but only one thing rushed to tried to get rid of that thought,but he delved deep in his brain,slicing up neurons and Ron's felt so miserable,so petty,so desperate,he didn't just want to wanted to erase from memory.

That thought was he was a murderer and a traitor.

Unable to do anything,he fell on his knees and watched as young wizards and witches were devoured by felt so inferior at his idleness and without finding energy to do anything he to be feasted upon by Dementors.  
That was all he could be good for anyway.

He suddenly felt another cold, cold of he turned around he saw the ancient sword of Godric Gryffindor shimmering with a light Ron had no idea where it was coming from.

He dropped his wand to the red grass.

Was there even a time where grass wasn't red but green?Ron doubted he took up the it with both hands,he tried to think of a good memory.  
None came to his just stood there holding his sword up against those monsters.

He remembered the moment he saw the doubt in Voldemort's eyes.

He inhaled as much as air as one man can hold in his lungs and cried his last hope to the skies.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Ron saw a different animal emerge from the sword from what he expected.A gigantic lion suddenly jumped out of the sword,roaring and bellowing and started chasing away the Dementors.

"That lion was not my Patronus." he thought.

The lion was Ron's last spell felt the cold in his shoulder blades and when he turned to his back,he examined the inside of a Dementor's mouth first time in his life.

As the Dementor moved in to gave him the Kiss,Ron couldn't even being was ripped away from his body his last seconds Ron even noticed one or two other Dementors were also draining him.

He dreamt of the King's Cross in his last thoughts.

"So you have died for me?" Harry asked.  
"Why so surprised?You are man worth dying for." Ron answered.


End file.
